The present invention relates to copying machines wherein flexible sheets are converted into finished reproductions each of which is provided with printed matter or other information, at least at one side thereof. More particularly, the invention relates to apparatus which is embodied in or associated with a copying machine and serves to manipulate finished reproductions, particularly to stack the reproductions on top of each other.
It is known to attach to a wall of the housing of a copying machine a tray or a like receptacle having an open top and serving to accumulate successive finished reproductions in such a way that the information on each reproduction of the stack faces upwardly. Thus, the reproductions are not stacked in the same sequence in which the originals are fed or placed into the copying machine. Consequently, each stack must be rearranged by hand or by a complex attachment so that finished reproductions are stacked in proper sequence, i.e., that the reproductions of successive pages of a book, brochure or the like are stacked in numerical order.
It is also known to mount an inverting device between the tray and the housing of the copying machine so that each finished reproduction is turned upside down before it enters the tray. This insures that the reproductions are stacked in proper sequence. However, presently known inverting devices for finished reproductions are mounted in such a way that they do not permit for observation of information on successive finished reproductions, i.e., the operator of the machine cannot determine whether or not each finished reproduction carries any information and/or whether or not the imprinted or otherwise applied information is satisfactory.